Combined incubator and brooder.



A. A. & B. SKINNER.

COMBINED INCUBATOR AND BROODER.

APPLIGATION FILED JAN. 27. 1909.

Patented Dec. 28, 1909.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

A. A. & F. B. SKINNER.

COMBINED INCUBATOR AND BROODBR.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 27, 1909.

. Patented Dec. 28, 1909.

4 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

A. A. & F. B. SKINNER.

COMBINED INCUBATOR AND BRooDBB..

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Specication of Letters Patent.

Patented Dec. 28, i909.

Application led January 27, 1909. Serial No. 474,366.

tors and Brooders, of whichthe following is a specification.- p

The object of our invention is to provide an eiiicient apparatus for continuously hatching and brooding chickens and otherv fowls.

In carrying out our invention we provide a suitably heated building having runs for the young fowls and within which our combined incubator and brooder is located. The incubator is preferably dividedinto sections containing removable egg trays and has separately controlled heating appliances, while the brooderA is -heated bya separately controlled system of heating pipes operating in connection with anl adjustable brooding platform and a hover below the incubator. In the lower portion of the incubator there is a nursery having a floor which can be conveniently lowered so that the young fowls at the proper time can be conveyed to the broodler.

The heating apparatus is so organized that the brooder is heated by a primary hot Water circulation, the temperature of which is automatically controlled by the automatic opening and closing of the draft dampers of the heater, while the incubator is heated by a secondary water circulation drawn from the primary circulating system and controlled by automatically acting thermostats whereby the temperature of the incubator' is controlled independently. of the primary heating system. p

The details of construction are hereinafter fully described and the subjectmatter deemed novel is set forth in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of our combined incubator and brooder. Fig. 2 is a View partly in front elevation and partly in section of a part of the combined incubator and brooder. Fig. 3 shows a transverse section on the line 3 8 of Fig. 2 looking in the direction of the arrows. Fig. 4 is a detail view on an enlarged scale partly in elevation and partly in section showing the devices for automatically controlling the circulation in the secondary heating system or that passing I heater B.

through the incubator. Fig. 5 shows a transverse section through the house in which the combined incubator and brooder is located, the latter being indicated in dotted lines. Fig. (shows diagrammatically the arrangement of the pipes in the two heating systems. l

We preferably arrange the combined incubator and brooder in a suitable house, such as that'indicated at A in Fig. 5, the particular construction of which is however not important, but preferably a'house of this general kind is employed, lin which the runs for the young fowls are located, and it is kept at a suitable temperature as herein` after explained. IVe preferably divide the incubator and brooder into sections and the different sections of the incubator may be separately opened and closed and the temperature,

tally through the lower portion of the apparatus and is connected by a transversely arranged branch pipe D with a return pipe E parallel with the pipe C provided with a valve' c and connected by pipes and couplings at F with the lower ortion of the A circulation of ijiot water may be maintained in this way through the pipes C, I) and E. The boiler is'supplied with water through a tank B in the usual way and the heater is provided with a smoke pipe B2 having a damper b, and the usual check draft or damper B4 is provided at the top of the heater.

In order to heat the house in which .the

combined incubator and brooder is located, we provide pipes G, G arranged one above the other connected by avertically arranged y be shut off during warm weatherby the valve g. A secondary circulation lis kept up in a system of pipes H, illustrated diagrammatically in Fig. 6. These ipes are 5 located above the system of pipes D, and E, as more clearly illustrated in Fig.- 3. The pipes H are connected with the pipes C and E by vertical pipes I which may be Fig. 2, and each of these pipes is rovided with an'automatic valve J hereina ter more particularly described.l

The brooder, as shown in Fig. '3, is located on the ground fioor. It is preferably divided into sections,` each section having a platform K resting on horizontal beams or supports K. which are hinged or pivoted at lc and which are supported at their opposite ends by turn buttons k 1b" means of which the platform may be hel at different elevations. Each platform has hinged to it a bridge K2 which moves up and down with the platform and .which is for Ithe of aording a way for the young owls to travel down to the ground level toward the run L which is constructed in any suitable way inside the house A. As the run illustrated is of well known construction it will not be ydescribed in detail.

Immediately above the platform K in each section there is a hover M comprising frame pieces m, a filling m of sawdust or other suitable material calculated to retain heat, and pieces of carpet m2 or other like material suitable to act as a hover for the fowls. The pipes C and E extend through the hovers below the filling m and above the carpet m2 and maintain asuit-able temperature in the hovers. Each hover ,operates in the usual way, the chicks or young fowls congregate on the platform K beneath the carpet m2 and when they so desire may ass down over the bridges K2 into the runs The portion k2 of the platform K is arranged beneath a -removable cover N comprising a frame .with a filling of wire netting. Food may b e thrown onto the platform section 7a2 and the fowls may feed there and then convenientlyA o back to the hovers when they so desire.'

tically upward from the interior of the hover into the space below the lincubator which opensto the,ou tside. v v The rear or outer end of theM pipe C is co`nnected1in the manner indicated in Fig. 2 at 0 with a vertically arranged lever O pivoted to the ioor at o and connected at its upper end by means of a wire 02 with a bell crank lever O in turn connected by a rod O2 withy another rod O3 Iattached to the check draft or draft damper B4. Preferably We employ an adjustable connection at O4 between the rods C2 and O3, and the l e5 damper b is connected with the rod4 O3 in ro-l vided with stop valves at z', as illustrate in'Y urpose he hover may.. be ventilated by pipes M extending versuch manner that when the check damper B4 is raised, the damper b is opened, and when the damper B4 is closed, the damper b is also closed. The arrangement 'is such that the lever O is4 oper- 70 ated by the expansion and contraction of `the -pipe C, that is to say, when the heat rises the pipe C expands or lengthens and gives a corresponding movement to the lever O which, through the connections before described, operates the dampers. Whenl the pipe C contracts or shortens, a reverse movement is given to the lever O and through the connections specified to the dampers. In this way the temperature in the primary heating system can be automatically controlled and the mechanism may be adjusted at the adjustable connection O4. The' temperature in the incubating sections is independently controlled both positively and aultomatically in the manner hereinafter dcscribed. y

The incubator P is preferably divided into sections inclosed by packed walls, as illustrated, and having removable egg trays Q. The incubator sections have doors Q which are preferably glazed and the trays are so supported that warm air can circulate about them and they can be conveniently removed andv replaced when desired. The heating pipes H are arranged above the trays, the return pipes of the system preferably being on a lower level than the other set of pipes as illustrated in Figf.l The parts of the pipes H in each incubator section are connectedy to the pipes C, E, of the primary circulating system by means of the vertical pipes I having the valves z', above referred to, and preferably the pipes I extend through the packed side walls of .the incubator sectionsLas illustrated in Fig.

2. One of the pipes I in each incubator section, .that is, the one connected with the pipe C, is provided with the automatic valve J, before referred to and which is illustrated on an enlarged scale in Fig. 4. This valve is contained in a T-coupling which connects the piJpe I with thepipes H and with ra vent pipe throu` h which air can escape. The -valve J is pre erably of the shape illustrated so that the openin j in the valve seatmay begradually close or opened. There'is a valve J in a pipe I in each incubator section and each of these valves is connected by means of a link R with a lever It pivoted 120 at r to a standard R2 andcarrying an adjustable weight R3. Each lever R carries an adjusting screw r connected inthe' manjner showru with a thermostat T of well known construction commonly used in iu`- cubators,l and which is so operated 1that when the heatl rises to too great an extent, the valve J is closed or partially closed, but when the heat falls, the valve J `is opened by means ofthe counterbalancing weightR. 13o

By adjusting the screw r the valve may be madey to operate to maintain any desired temperature in the circulating system of each incubator section.

Each incubator section has a space S in front of and below the egg trays where the young fowls after they are hatchedvaccumulate, and' there is also a space below the egg trays below which there is a hinged floor U normally held raised by fastening devices u. When the fowls are hatched, the ioor U may be lowered to the position shown by dotted lines in Fig. 3 and the cover N may adjusted, but after that the desired tempera. ture will be automatically maintained. lThe eggs are turned from time to time in the usual way and after'the incubating period haselapsed, the young fowls will drop to the spaces S and find their way onto the hinged floors U, then the covers N may be removed and the ioor U lowered so -that the fowls can pass into the brooder. They will use the hover in the customary way and can readily pass to the runs L 4and find their way back tto the hover when they so desire. The platforms K beneath the hover can be lowered and raised from time to time either separately or simultaneously. In Fig. 2 wel have shown the turn buttons lo. as all being carried on a rod K3 which may be operated by a handle K4. When the young fowls have been thus transferredv to the brooder, trays with a new supply of eggs maybe placed in the incubator so that while fowls are being nursed in the brooder, eggs may be undergoing the processof incubating or hatching in the incubator and it is also possible to make the process continuous by starting the incubation 'at different times in different sections of the incubator and correspond-v ingly using the brooder sections.

We claim as our invention:

l. A combined incubator 'and brooder, the latter provided with a primary heat circulating system confined to the brooder and the former with a secondary heat circulatmg system confined to the incubator and drawn from the primary system, means for automatically and separately controlling the temperature in the brooder, and thermostatic devices in the incubator for controlling the passage of the heating fluid from the pri# mary to the secondary circulating system, and thus controlling the temperature in the incubator.

2. In a vcombined incubator and brooder, a primary hot water circulating system confined to the brooder, means for automatic ally controlling'the temperature thereof, a secondary hot water circulating system conlined to the incubator supplied from the primary circulating system, and thermostatic devicesl for automatically controlling the passage of hot water from the primary to the secondary system and to thus regulate the temperature in the incubator without affecting the temperature in the brooder.

3. The combination of an incubator, a brooder beneath it, a hot water heater, circulating pipes passing through the brooder and connected with the hot water heater, a damper connected with the heater, connections between the circulating lpipes in the brooder and said regulatorwhereby ,the ex pansion and contraction of said pipes control the position of said heat regulator, a

secondary hot water circulating system in the .incubator supplied from the primary system, valve mechanism controlling the passage of hot water from the primary-system to the secondary system, and thermo.

static devices in the incubator for operating said valve mechanism to regulatethe passage of hot water from the primary to the secondary system and to thus control the tem- 'perature in the incubator without affecting the temperature in the brooder. I

4. The combination of a brooder provided with a vertically adjustable platform, a

hover above it, hot water circulating pipes for heating the hover, a removable cover above one end of the platform, van incubatorv above the brooder having a hinged floor whereby the young fowls may readily descend from the incubator to the brooder, hot

water` circulating pipes in the incubator which are supplied from the hot water circulating pipes in the brooder, valve mechanism controlling the passage of hot water from the pipes in the brooder to those in the incubator, thermostatic devices for regulating the temperature of the hot water circulating in the pipes of the brooder, and thermostatic devices in the incubator for operating the valve mechanism to control the passage of hot water from the pipes of the brooder to the pipes of the incubator, and to thus regulate the temperature in the incubator without affecting the temperature in the brooder.

In testimony whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names.

' ALBA A. SKINNER. FRED B. SKINNER.

Witnesses:

LYDIA M. GRAY, LAURA S. SKINNER. 

